COLLEGIATETIMES
friday march 21, 2008 blacksburg, va.
www.collegiatetimes.com
news SERIES OF ASSUALTS OCCUR NEAR CAMPUS The Blacksburg Police are investigating three assault cases, which occurred close to the Virginia Tech campus between March 16 and March 19. Captain Marty Hauschildt reported in a press release that the suspects for all three cases are described as young males, apparently all teenagers, wearing dark clothing. The victims consistently suffered minor, superficial injuries after being approached by at least two of the suspects. No weapons were involved during the assaults. Blackburg Police request that anyone with information contact the police department at 961-1150 or call the tip line at 961-1819.
bulletin board FREE CONCERT THIS WEEKEND On Saturday, HUM will host a free concert at 7 p.m. in the Graduate Life Center Auditorium. The a cappella group, sponsored by the Association for India’s Development, mixes Hindi and English in its music.
sports YESTERDAY’S GAMES Georgia 61 Xavier 73 Belmont 70 Duke 71 BYU 62 Texas A&M 67 Purdue 90 Baylor 79 Temple 61 MSU 72 Cornell 53 Stanford 77
Kentucky 66 Marquette 74 Oral Roberts 63 Pittsburgh 82 PSU 61 Kansas 85 Kent State 58 UNLV 71 KSU 80 USC 67 WSU 71 Winthrop 40
weather SUNNY high 64, low 38
corrections “Squires undergoes renovations,” (CT, March 19) should be clarified. The story implied that there are private donors who have already been identified to help fund the project, but Squires does not have definite donors. “Steger briefs campus on April 16 progress,” (CT, March 20) had a mistake. All quotes attributed to Sherwood Wilson should be attributed to Earving Blythe, and all quotes attributed to Blythe should be attributed to Wilson. The Collegiate Times regrets these errors.
coming up TUESDAY’S CT See how the Hokies fare against University of Alabama-Birmingham in Monday night’s NIT game in Tuesday’s CT. Check out a database of professors’ grade distributions just in time for course request.
index News.....................2 Features................3 0pinions................5
Sports....................6 Classifieds..............7 Sudoku..................7
An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903 105th year • issue 36
And they’re off ... the race begins ‘YOURSGA’S’ PLATFORM STRESSES OUTREACH, UNITY, TRADITIONS AND GOING GREEN
‘THE TOTAL PACKAGE’ AIMS TO SUPPORT, BUILD, ENHANCE AND INFORM
ASHLEY OLIVER
ASHLEY OLIVER
ct associate news editor
ct associate news editor
A group of students coming together to strengthen the Virginia Tech community, traditions and environmental initiatives believes the passion it feel for its four platforms: outreach, unity, traditions and going green, will set them apart from the opposing group during the SGA elections. “I believe the four of us live our lives and are running this election by the schools motto ‘Ut Prosim:” that I may serve,” said Emily Mashack, a presidential candidate. “That is why we are doing this. We aren’t doing this for the position; we’re doing this for the school ... that we may serve our student body.” Mashack, who has been a member of SGA for the past three years, currently directs all the organization’s major programs including Hokie Effect, Hokies on Fire, Big Event and Relay for Life. “That really showed me that I did have the capabilities to oversee a large group in more of a directorial position,” Mashack said. While holding a current executive position with SGA, Mashack also participates in a number of other organizations, including the Student Alumni Association, Chi Omega, the American Medical Students Association, and Women’s Club Water Polo. She said the diversity of organizations that she’s involved with would allow her to view the student body through many different lenses. “I believe that I have the knowledge, and that I’m here for the right reasons,” Mashack said. “I’ve got my heart in it.” The other candidates include senior Steve Smith for vice president, sophomore Sharone Christmas for treasurer, and junior Ashley Gray for secretary. Smith, who currently serves as SGA’s CoDirector of fundraising, is especially eager about reinforcing Tech traditions through his candidacy. “I’m just so passionate about Virginia Tech, it’s so important in my life,” Smith said. One of the major focuses of “yourSGA” will be the environment, as all four members hope to work strongly with the environmental coalition to boost campus efforts in that area. “I believe that’s a place that the university needs to grow in, and that’s why we chose it,” Mashack said. “It’s a very popular subject today, and it concerns me that Tech hasn’t taken the initiative; so as the student body we’re choosing to, and I think that’s going to make a difference.” As a candidate for secretary, junior Ashley Gray said she understands that her position is not as intimidating to others, so she hopes to provide more support to the other positions and to be present at more meetings, not just select ones. “I feel like people want to talk to the secretary more, and I find myself to be a very unbiased and honest person that people can come to with any concerns,” Gray said. “I want to be there for the student body.” Another platform of “yourSGA,” unity, will involve co-sponsoring events and promoting weeks, such as Diversity Week. The members’ goals with this will be to learn from the various organizations about what is or isn’t working, while strengthening the unity of the campus at the same time. “We have a lot of school spirit; our platforms are bringing up new ideas that haven’t really been touched on,” Gray said. “We have a lot of issues we’re bringing up that are important in society today.”
A close-knit group of candidates in the SGA elections refers to itself as a “team” rather than a “ticket” because it feels its members are supportive enough and communicate consistently enough that they could fill each other’s shoes at any given moment. “It’s obvious to say that the fellow members of my team and I share the same passion for this organization, see room for improvement and want to make a difference both in SGA and in the community,” said Jennifer Vaziralli, a presidential candidate. Her ticket, “The Total Package,” has each member focusing on one of its four platforms: to support, to build, to enhance and to inform. Vaziralli also said one of the major characteristics of her ticket is to boost SGA’s communication with the Tech community, as its members feel this is the root of implementing change. One of the focuses within “The Total Package’s” campaign is to improve SGA’s use of funds. Junior Rianka Urbina, candidate for vice president, explained that much of SGA’s money from T-shirt funds, for example, isn’t being put to use. “We sit on our money when it can be invested and go into stocks, and into CDs, and into something that will help SGA in the future,” Urbina said. Vaziralli also said that she plans to start a crisis endowment for universities that experience tragedy with some of SGA’s funds, adding that this would have provided support to the SGA at University of North Carolina after its president was killed. Candidate for treasurer, junior Kendall LaRue, concurred in an e-mail statement where he proposed “a financial portfolio manager position where the person in that position has the responsibility of investing the SGA funds in different financial venues to meet present and future needs of SGA.” Candidate for secretary, junior Meredyth Kenney, is focusing on the platform to inform, because she feels her background as director of public relations has given her the experience necessary to succeed in that area. “We decided, what better way to reach out to everybody than to expand my role? I’m the only person doing PR for a huge organization right now, and there is only so much one person can do,” Kenney said. “Most people don’t understand what the SGA does for them, and I mean honestly, we do a lot.” Currently SGA hosts forums for students to express concerns of the university, but Vaziralli said she’d like to hold forums where SGA can focus on what it can do better as an organization as well. The members of “The Total Package” feel they will rise above the opposing ticket because of their cohesive, yet individual expertise as a group, Urbina said. They are so close, in fact, that the members seriously consider whether they will continue with their position if the ticket were to split after voting. “I’ll be frank, I won’t work with anyone but them,” Kenney said. “So if I win, and they don’t, I’m going to give up my position.” Vaziralli also stressed the unity of their ticket by explaining how they originally came together. “There was no rock-paper-scissoring about who would be in what position; it was a given to say that we each recognize not only our strengths, but also our weaknesses,” Vaziralli said. “We’re real. We’re not perfect, but we see room for improvement in ourselves.”
>> Emily Mashack
>> Jennifer Vaziralli
RUNNING FOR: President YEAR: Junior MAJOR: HNFE ACTIVITIES: SGA: Director of programs, Commission on undergraduate studies and policies: Student representative, Pre-Students of osteopathic medicine: Vice president, Relay for Life: Team captain, Big Event: Team captain, Student Alumni Associates, Chi Omega, Club Water Polo, American Medical Students Association
RUNNING FOR: President YEAR: Junior MAJOR: Human resource management and marketing ACTIVITIES: SGA: Co-Director of community initiatives, Business Horizons: Co-Leader, Delta Gamma: Vice president of programming, Commission on undergraduate studies and policies: Undergraduate representative
>> Steve Smith RUNNING FOR: Vice President YEAR: Senior MAJOR: Architecture ACTIVITIES: SGA: Co-Director of fundraising, Orientation Leader, G.E.R.M.A.N. Club, Student Alumni Association, Omicron Delta Kappa, National Residence Hall Honorary, past resident adviser
>> Sharone Christmas RUNNING FOR: Treasurer YEAR: Sophomore MAJOR: Marketing management ACTIVITIES: SGA: Co-Director of membership development, Residence Hall Federation: Treasurer, G.E.R.M.A.N. Club, Student Alumni Association
>> Rianka Urbina RUNNING FOR: Vice President YEAR: Junior MAJOR: Finance ACTIVITIES: SGA: Director of diversity and multicultural affairs, National association of black accountants: Chair of community service, INROADS: President, Alliance for concerned students: Director, Task force on race and the institution: Undergraduate representative
>> Kendall LaRue RUNNING FOR: Treasurer YEAR: Junior MAJOR: Finance and marketing ACTIVITIES: SGA: Co-Director of community initiatives, Big Event: Activities director, Orientation Leader 2007, Resident Advisor 2006 to 2007, Hokie Ambassador, Student Alumni Association
>> Ashley Gray
YOURSGA.ORG
The “yourSGA” ticket strives to make the campus greener.
RUNNING FOR: Secretary YEAR: Junior MAJOR: Food science and technology ACTIVITIES: SGA: Co-Director of fundraising, Delta Delta Delta: New member educator, Peer mentor to a fifth grader, Pre-Vet club, Research dog walker and horse melanoma researcher for Tech vet school, Tech on the run, Rho Gamma
>> Meredyth Kenney RUNNING FOR: Secretary YEAR: Junior MAJOR: English ACTIVITIES: SGA: Director of public relations, Class of 2009: Vice president, Alpha Phi: Recording secretary, Student Alumni Association
VOTETOTALPACKAGE.COM
“The Total Package” wants to increase communication with students.
Faculty senate raises issue with undergrad experience CALEB FLEMING
ct news reporter In a letter sent to University Provost Mark McNamee, the faculty senate outlined its concerns that the university has not been making progress in the enhancement of the undergraduate education experience. The senate backed its concerns with citations of deteriorating buildings and increased class sizes. The letter came as a result of a traditional meeting between the senate and provost, in which McNamee announced that the university had planned on adding an additional adminstrator, possibly in the undergraduate department. By presenting statistics that reveal a sharp increase in the number of adminstrators and research faculty members over the past decade and comparing these numbers to the marginal advancement in the number of classroom
instructors, senate representatives voiced their concerns that research could be becoming a priority. Carol Burger, the interdisciplinary studies representative on the senate, said the university’s plan for the addition of another administrator was perturbing, as Tech should focus first on benefitting the classroom experience. “Those of us who teach humanities and general education, most of us don’t have any help,” Burger said. “It was general discontent with what we felt the attitude of the administration to be. Enthusiasm doesn’t get us a new paint job in McBryde or a classroom big enough for our students. They want us to teach bigger classes, but there aren’t classrooms for it.” After deliberating among themselves, the senate drafted the letter with their concerns and sent it to university provost Mark McNamee. Upon viewing the faculty’s concerns, McNamee responded with a letter of his own, hitting several
key points. “I wrote a letter trying to clarify the misconceptions, and I outlined the points,” McNamee said. “I wanted to discuss the value of teaching and research going together, and what specifically we can do during this financial time to reinsure that they have support.” Additionally, McNamee added that he would take note of the numbers presented, but because they date back 10 years and are broad in nature, they should be analyzed in depth before being officially addressed. Though the general discontent with the quality of academic buildings and class sizes is certainly an issue to be addressed by the university, McNamee noted that it is not related to the university’s goal of becoming a top research institute, and something that is mainly constrained by finances. Both parties agree that the debate should not require a one or the another scenario, but rather a
coinciding effort between research and classroom instruction to educate students effectively. Addressing the issue of campus renovation, McNamee’s explanation was simple. Because it is impossible to renovate an entire campus overnight, the university is taking measures to improve the quality of university life, one step at a time. “While we are in a budget reduction period, we are still working together from different sources of money to promote the overall welfare of the students,” McNamee said. “We’re investing a lot in upgrading the classrooms on campus; every year 15 to 20 classrooms get renovated. Some of the new buildings are devoted entirely to teaching. It’s an ongoing process to aid the total mission of the university.” Scott Geller, a nationally recognized researcher, professor of psychology, and author of sev-
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